Political problems for the state's largest teacher's union continue to mount.  After going all out for Gov. Jon Corzine in the recent election, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) knows they have a potential problem with voucher-backing charter school enthusiast Gov.-elect Christopher Christie.  And in the Senate, it looks like Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark), a protégé of Newark political leader Stephen Adubato, might replace Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence) as chairman of the Education Committee.  A fair assumption is that Ruiz will share Adubato's fervent support for charter schools. 

Turner could wind up a casualty of the contest for Senate President; she backed incumbent Richard Codey (D-Roseland), while Ruiz supported the likely winner, Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford).

Christie's problem with the NJEA might be more than just politics - he appears to have different views on how to fix New Jersey's public school.  And he might have the upper hand, especially with a potential political ally running the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange), who is expected to become the next Assembly Speaker, has not yet indicated who she will pick as the new Assembly Education Committee Chairman.  The incumbent, Joseph Cryan (D-Union), a strong NJEA supporter, is expected to vacate the post to become Majority Leader.  Oliver also has strong ties to Adubato - she is the Assistant Essex County Administrator (and Ruiz is the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Essex County Executive) - but statehouse observers say that Oliver is likely to pick a new chairman who would be supportive of the teachers union, a key player in the state's Democratic base vote.

Reportedly not under consideration to head the Education Committee is Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee), who spent forty years as a public school teacher and is now vice chair of the panel.  Voss, Democratic leaders say, lacks intellectual heft to take on the post.  Instead, Democrats could turn to Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield), a Cryan/Oliver ally and the current chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee.  If Diegnan turns it down - the Middlesex County Democrat might want to stay where he is, considering the importance of Rutgers University to his district, the leadership might go with the highly-regarded Mila Jasey (D-South Orange), a former school board member but an ally of outgoing Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland), or Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Twp.), a member of South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross' political organization.

The peril of mortality has sparked a debate among Democrats over the political future of 85-year-old Frank Lautenberg.  Some Democrats think he should retire from the United States Senate before Republican Christopher Christie is sworn in as governor in January.  That would give Gov. Jon Corzine the ability to appoint a Democrat to replace him, and have ten months of incumbency before a November 2010 special election to fill the remaining four years of Lautenberg's term.  But realistically, Lautenberg isn't going anywhere, at least not voluntarily.  He tried retirement once before and did not especially enjoy it.  The chances of Democrats, in Washington or in New Jersey, convincing him to walk away from his Senate seat early is slim to none.

Democrats have a short window before Christie takes office to pass a new law that would change the way U.S. Senate vacancies are filled.  If Lautenberg's service in the Senate were to end over the next four years, Christie could appoint a Republican to fill his seat.  There could be a special election in November 2010 - the mid-term election year of a Democratic president - or in November 2011, when it might be tougher to turn out voters. 

There are two ways Democrats could go: the power of filling U.S. Senate seats could be taken away from the governor, with the seat remaining vacant until a special election could be held perhaps sixty days later; or forcing the governor to appoint someone from a list of names supplied to them by the political party that held the seat - a move that would trigger a vote of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee with the top three candidates being presented to Christie.

U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) seems a little worried about the potential fundraising abilities of former NFL player Jon Runyan, who is exploring a bid to run against him for the third district congressional seat next year.  In an interview with Fox29 this morning, Adler said that the former Philadelphia Eagles star could “write a big check to help buy an election.”

“He could spend a lot of money. That would be a factor with elections,” Adler said.  “We’ve seen that in New Jersey in the past, Jon Corzine did it a couple of times.”

Sources say that Runyan has now reached out to the three Republican County Chairmen in the district to discuss his potential candidacy. 

One of the perks of office for the newly-elected Republican governor, Christopher Christie, will be the ability to deliver the state GOP establishment for the 2012 presidential candidate of his choice. Expect most of the state's Republican County Chairmen, fundraisers, legislators and key local officials to follow Christie's lead.   

Unless the Legislature changes the law, the New Jersey presidential primary is scheduled for February 7, 2012.  Democrats are likely to have an incumbent running without significant opposition, and the GOP primary will be less competitive if Christie picks a horse in that race.

New Jersey Governors have a history of delivering most party endorsements to one presidential candidate during the nomination process: Jon Corzine for Hillary Clinton in 2008, James E. McGreevey for Howard Dean in 2004, and Christine Todd Whitman for George W. Bush in 2000 and for Bob Dole in 1996.

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) will become the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a position that will take on increased clout for a Democratic-controlled Senate confirming appointments made by a Republican governor.  Scutari was no pushover for Gov. Jon Corzine’s appointees – he takes his advise and consent responsibilities seriously, and does not view Judiciary as a rubber stamp.  That’s something Gov.-elect Christopher Christie’s front office will need to take into consideration  And Scutari is intellectually superior to the current chairman, State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge).

Sarlo is expected to become Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee when State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) becomes Majority Leader.

When Kim Guadagno resigns as Monmouth County Sheriff in January to become Lt. Governor, Christopher Christie will appoint an Acting Sheriff to fill the remaining year of her term.   The leading candidate, sources say, is Undersheriff Shaun Golden, a career law enforcement officer who ran against Guadagno at the 2007 Monmouth County GOP convention.  Golden, who was an administrative officer with the Toms River police department, received just 19% of the vote against Guadagno, who later hired him after she won the general election. 

Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall) announced last week that he would not seek appointment as Sheriff, perhaps because Guadagno and her predecessor, Monmouth County GOP Chairman Joseph Oxley, had already decided on Golden.

Gov. Jon Corzine shmoozes with Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero on the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Walk to Washington in 2007.

The week after Christopher Christie takes office as governor, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce will hold their 73rd annual Walk to Washington, a chartered train that allows special interests to schmooze with elected officials – “Build Your Contacts During Two Days of Intense Networking,” according to the chamber website.   But the rift between the business advocacy group and state Republicans could cause the trip to be a bust. 

Chamber of Commerce president Joan Verplanck became closely allied with Gov. Jon Corzine over the last few years.  She angered Republican legislative leaders by endorsing Corzine’s toll hike plan, causing some Republicans to call on local businesses to leave the organization.  Verplanck was reportedly considered by Corzine as a possible candidate for Lt. Governor.

Many top Republicans, including Christie, declined to participate in this year’s chamber trip to Washington.  " Christie wants to bring real change to Trenton and that comes with ending politics as usual, which this trip has become a symbol of,” his campaign manager, Bill Stepien, said earlier this year.  Verplanck called the GOP protest “stupid.”

Anne Evans Estabrook, a former Chamber of Commerce chair and briefly in 2008 a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, contributed to Christopher Daggett's independent campaign for governor.

Republicans have also been upset with New Jersey Business & Industry Association President Philip Kirschner, who forged an alliance with Corzine.  In a not to subtle jab at Verplanck and Kirschner, Christie named Debra DiLorenzo, the President of the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, to his transition team. 

Richard Bagger first showed a penchant for making a reasonable argument as an eighteen-year-old Princeton University sophomore when he testified before Assembly Judiciary Committee in support of legislation that would raise the age for carry-out alcohol sales while allowing the drinking age in bars and restaurants to remain at 18.  He argued that the compromise would at least stop teenagers from being able to buy large quantities of liquor that could be distributed to underage drinkers.  The sponsor of that bill was Chuck Hardwick, a freshman Assemblyman from Bagger's hometown, Westfield.  Twelve years later, Hardwick backed Bagger's bid to succeed him in the Legislature. 

Gov.-elect Christopher Christie announced today that the 49-year-old Bagger would serve as Co-Chairman of his transition task force on budget and tax issues.

Bagger became involved in politics at a young age, backing George H.W. Bush for President in 1980 and Thomas Kean for Governor in 1981.  At age 23, as a Rutgers law student, Bagger was elected Westfield Councilman.  He became Mayor six years later.  When he ran for Assemblyman in 1991, he just narrowly won the Union County GOP convention against Alan Augustine, a Union County Freeholder and former Scotch Plains Mayor.  Augustine joined Bagger in the Assembly a year later when he won a special election convention and they two became political allies.

After winning an Assembly seat, Bagger sought an ethics ruling about his position as an associate at McCarter & English, one of the state's largest and most prestigious law firms. Told that he might have a conflict because some of his firm's clients did business with the state, Bagger quit his job.  He spent some time as a lawyer at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey before joining Pfizer at the invitation of Hardwick, a top executive.

Former Long Beach Mayor DiAnne Gove is expected to be sworn in as a member of the State Assembly on November 23.  Gove won an August special election convention to replace Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean Twp.), who resigned following his arrest last July.  Gove retired in 2006 after 32 years as a high school history and government teacher - making her the only NJEA member in the Republican caucus.  She won a full two-year term in November.

Former Senate President John Lynch will complete his 39-month prison sentence tomorrow, and has been working at an electrical supply company run by former GOP State Sen. Jack Sinagra, according to a Star-Ledger report.   "We found something that was intellectually satisfying for him and productive for us. Cleric stuff, nothing heavy," Sinagra said of Lynch's minimum wage job at the Linden-based Turtle and Hughes.  Lynch, who served in the State Senate from 1982 to 2002, pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in 2006.